RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
RE is on the ropes after being shunned by Mr Gove’s EBacc.
Bob Ayres from the free resource website TrueTube looks at the importance of the subject and some of the resources they are offering
particular. So imagine how RE teachers must feel. Multiculturalism made the headlines again in
February when prime minister David Cameron said that “the doctrine of state multiculturalism” was a strategy which had, “encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream”. In Mr Cameron’s mind, the word “multiculturalism”
R
seems to mean “segregation”. For others it might mean, “living together in perfect harmony”. It’s a word with as many definitions as there are politicians, academics and taxi drivers. However you look at it, there’s clearly a long way to go. Elsewhere, education minister Michael Gove is
busy with his plans for educational reform, which include the snappily monikered English Baccalaureate (EBacc). GCSE students who achieve A* to C passes in English, maths, two sciences, a foreign language and a humanity get an EBacc. Listen carefully and you can hear the swearing of
school curriculum managers across the country as they tear up their carefully constructed timetables and start all over again. Rude words can also be heard emanating
ELIGIOUS EDUCATION is in the firing line. Again. In Britain there are some issues that are guaranteed to provoke angry letters to The Times. Near the top of the list you will always find multiculturalism, religion in general, and Islam in
Resourcing RE Opening minds: A look inside a Buddhist monestary, called a Vihara, is among the films featuring in the free Holy Cribs resource
from RE departments (only with less blasphemy) because as far as Mr Gove is concerned, RE is not a humanity and not included in the EBacc. A recent survey conducted by the National
Association of Teachers of Religious Education has discovered that one in three schools is reducing the time they devote to RE. Some are even ignoring statutory requirements for RE altogether. The view that RE is an outdated relic persists,
even in some schools. Perhaps headteachers are remembering the RE lessons of yore, sitting in chalk- dusty classrooms copying maps of Paul’s missionary journeys. Yet RE plays a vital role in shaping our society. By key stage 4, the students will be discussing weighty philosophical and social issues, including – Mr Cameron take note – community cohesion. RE resources are no longer confined to a set of dog-
eared Bibles and text books that feature a picture of East 17 in an attempt to be up-to-the-minute and down- with-the-kids. The ubiquitous interactive whiteboard has made the use of online media more accessible and so resources can be up-to-date and up-dated every day. TrueTube is a website that provides free multimedia
resources for teachers of RE, PSHE and citizenship. If a teacher wants to see a film about – ooh, plucking a
subject out of the air – multiculturalism, they only have to type in the key word and a list of relevant films will appear. And possibly a lesson plan. Or an assembly plan. For free. And anyone who doubts the relevance of RE needs only to click around the site and watch the films made by young people for young people on an extraordinary range of issues. For any RE teacher who is worried about their
reduced timetable, the films are short and punchy, ranging from about a minute to a maximum of about 10 minutes. The films can be used to provoke discussion, to give information or even to inspire students to make their own films about their lives, beliefs and cultures. An increasing number of TrueTube films are being
made about specific religions. Holy Cribs, a new series launching soon, takes a look at different places of worship: a Vihara, a Church, a Mandir, a Mosque, a Synagogue and a Gurdwara. The format will be familiar to any viewer of MTV’s Cribs, in which a celebrity gives a tour of their “crib”. In the TrueTube version, young members of a faith community show the camera around their holy buildings, pointing out the main features and talking more generally about their religions. Multiculturalism at its best. A lack of understanding between different faith
communities will only increase segregation. Views will become more entrenched and eventually more extremist. This is the “multiculturalism” that frightens Mr Cameron so much. To ignore religion would be to do the educational
equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and going “la, la, la, not listening”. Someone cannot claim to have a rounded education and an understanding of art, literature, history and world affairs without understanding religion. In a recent speech, Mr Cameron said: “Common
purpose can be formed as people come together and work together in their neighbourhoods. It will also help build stronger pride in local identity, so people feel free to say ‘yes, I am a Muslim, I am a Hindu, I am Christian, but I am also a Londoner’.” Hang on. Isn’t that multiculturalism? A different, better kind of multiculturalism. Maybe Mr Cameron should have a word with his education secretary.”
SecEd
• Bob Ayres is an education writer with TrueTube and was a secondary school teacher for 15 years.
Further information
www.truetube.co.uk
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SecEd • April 14 2011
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